Central Texas submits Medicaid waiver plan

December 13, 2012 by Marketing & Communications

Following federal approval for a waiver that allows Texas to provide cost-saving Medicaid improvements, the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) has taken a leading role in two of the state’s new regional healthcare partnerships (RHPs) – one in Central Texas, the other in the Brazos Valley area.

Each partnership must submit a regional health care plan to participate in the waiver. The plans include projects that are driven by a regional health assessment and identify participating public entities and performing providers. The projects are meant to transform health care in the region with incentive projects that that develop infrastructure, innovate and redesign programs, improve quality and make population-focused improvements.

On Dec. 12, the plan for RHP 8 – Bell, Blanco, Burnet, Lampasas, Llano, Milam, Mills, San Saba and Williamson counties – was signed and certified at the TAMHSC Round Rock Campus, then submitted to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission for formal review and approval. A similar signing occurred in November in Bryan for the plan for RHP 17 – Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Leon, Madison, Montgomery, Robertson, Walker and Washington counties.

This summer, an interdisciplinary group of Aggies - composed of students from the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Public Health, College of Medicine, College of Nursing and College of Pharmacy - spent a week abroad providing basic health services to residents of Guamaní, Ecuador.

School is just around the corner, which means backpacks and packed lunches await your children. Whether it’s their first year at school or they’re already climbing the ranks, you want to ensure they are making healthy choices when it comes to lunch. However, one aspect you may not have considered when it comes to lunch options is dental health.

Insured or uninsured, we all feel the pinch of higher health care costs. Get the most bang for your buck by shopping around. Comparison shopping could save you time and money on routine medical services.

Brandie DePaoli Taylor, Ph.D. will lead a research team that will study subtypes of preeclampsia with different severity. She hopes to help clinicians get ahead of the illness through a new study to identify biomarkers of the disease with the three-year, $181,507 study funded by The Discovery Foundation.